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unhabituated

unhabituated

8.9
Not used to repeated sounds or events and still reacting to them
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌn.həˈbɪtʃ.u.eɪ.tɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : no habituado
  • The animal remained unhabituated to the sound, reacting strongly each time it was played.

Examples

  • Researchers observed that the subject was still unhabituated after several days of repeated exposure.

  • The unhabituated subjects reacted strongly to the loud noise.

  • Because the children were unhabituated to the new routine, they found it difficult to adjust.

  • Children are often unhabituated to the sounds of the city.

  • The dog remained unhabituated to the fireworks, barking loudly every time they went off.

  • After moving to the new city, she felt unhabituated to the bustling environment and noise.

  • The participants who were unhabituated to the experiment showed a significant response to the stimuli.

Synonyms

unaccustomed to
vsunhabituated
4 5.3

Not used to something because you have not done it often

is mainly about reduced responsiveness to repeated stimuli in psychology and physiology
unused to
vsunhabituated
3 4.2

Not familiar with a thing or situation

emphasizes physiological reduced response to repeated stimuli rather than general unfamiliarity

Antonyms

5 3.4

Familiar with something because you do it often

How Habituated

accustomed
5 3.4
unhabituated
  • Specialized
8.9
novel
72 5.1

Surface Forms

unhabituated positive

Morphology

unhabituated = habituated (semi-transparent) = un + habituate + ed

The negation 'un-' applied to the adjective 'habituated' is a straightforward morphological operation.

Etymology

Unhabituated is made from un- 'not' and habituate, from the same root as habit, which means 'to make usual'. So, in psychology it means someone or an animal has not become used to a repeated sound or event and still reacts to it.